Monday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
Once again, we hear the story of the rich young man who seeks out Jesus. He is a good man and clearly a seeker who wants what God desires. He has done everything that he should — loving God and loving neighbor. But there is a gnawing feeling that he should be doing more to honor God, and this is why he approaches the itinerant preacher from the Galilee. But “sell all you have and give to the poor … and come follow me,” is just too much for him.
Does the young man mirror us? Do we desire to follow the Lord more fully, yet struggle to release our grip on “things”? Wealth and security whispers, “hold on,” but Jesus lovingly invites us to “let go.” What is it about wealth? We can’t carry “stuff” to our graves (the Irish like to say, “there are no pockets in shrouds”). We cannot cling to earthly things when age weakens our bodies and minds, for eventually wealth will pass to someone else —- or be lost altogether.
Saint Francis of Assisi understood this. Born into nobility, he gave everything away so he could respond wholeheartedly to the Lord. His was a radical surrender mirroring the words of Mohandas Gandhi, “live simply so others may simply live.” This requires surrender, which is never easy — ongoing conversion, change of heart, reordering of priorities.
Still, many of us have families to feed, children to raise, mortgages to pay and responsibilities to fulfill. What matters is not the amount we give, but the love with which we give it. “Do all things with love,” Saint Teresa of Kolkata liked to remind her sisters. A small offering of wealth, time, or talents, when it springs from the heart, becomes a great treasure before God.
Following Jesus always costs and demands releasing that which we cling to most tightly — riches, pride, ambitions, and even our fears. But when we let go, we make room for him to fill.
The prayer of Saint Ignatius Loyola is most appropriate here:
Take, Lord, receive all my liberty.
My memory, understanding, my entire will.
Give me only your love and your grace.
That’s enough for me.
Are we like the young man in today’s Gospel, who walked away in sorrow because he had many possessions? Or are we more like Francis, Ignatius, and Teresa who surrendered everything? For the material stuff of this world is temporary and it will pass away into nothingness. The love and grace of the Lord is forever.
—Timothy J. Cronin